Enoch Pratt Free Library
Writers at the Library
Readings and Book Signings
September 18, 2002 – October 8, 2002
All readings will be held in the Poe Room of the Central
Library, unless otherwise indicated. Copies of the authors'
books will be available at book signings following the
programs. To register, call 410-396-5494.
Tayari Jones
Leaving Atlanta
Wednesday, September 18, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library - Poe Room
In the summer of 1979 black children were disappearing
from the streets of Atlanta. By the time the heinous killing
spree was over, twenty-nine children were dead. Amid this
volatile world of terror, children were fighting their
own painful battles with adolescence. In her debut novel,
Leaving Atlanta (Warner Books), award-winning author Tayari
Jones tells a powerful story that blends history with
unforgettable fictional characters. Ms. Jones received
the Hurston/Wright Award for 2000 and has also won awards
from the Robert C. Martindale Foundation, the Arizona
Commission of the Arts, and the LEF Foundation.
Gus Russo
The Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping
of Modern America.
Tuesday, October 1, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library - Poe Room
The Outfit (Bloomsbury) tells the story of the Chicago
crime syndicate, which controlled American politics and
entertainment for much of the 20th century. Drawing upon
recently released FBI files, the working papers of the
Kefauver Committee, and interviews with Outfit associates,
Gus Russo recounts the exploits of the syndicates' biggest
bosses (Tony "Joe Batters” Accardo, Murray "The
Camel" Humphreys, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca,
and others) who ran their operation like a Fortune 500
company. Gus Russo is the author of Live By the Sword:
The Secret War Against Castro and the Death of JFK. An
investigative reporter, he has worked for PBS' Frontline
series and other major television networks.
Gilbert Sandler
Small Town Baltimore: An Album of Memories
Sunday, October 6, 2 p.m.
Central Library - Wheeler Auditorium
For more than 25 years, Gilbert Sandler chronicled Baltimore's
bygone life in his "Baltimore Glimpses" column
in the Evening Sun and the Sun. In Small Town Baltimore
(Johns Hopkins University Press), Sandler's delightful
sketches take readers back to a time when flagpole-sitting
was all the rage, when guests at high society weddings
ate chef David Bruce's famous chicken croquettes, and
when the salt rubdown at Rowland's Turkish Bath could
take one's troubles away. Born and raised in Baltimore,
Gilbert Sandler is the author of Jewish Baltimore: A Family
Album and The Neighborhood: The Story of Baltimore's Little
Italy.” Baltimore has always been a sensory town
full of color, smells, loudness, smooth jazz, jagged emotions
and watery ways. Ethnic neighborhoods add to the excitement
and cacophony of Baltimore. Small Town Baltimore goes
beyond the veneer of the Harbor and brings all the inner
senses to light." Camay Calloway Murphy, daughter
of Cab Calloway, and Executive Director, Eubie Blake National
Jazz Institute and Cultural Center
RM Johnson
Love Frustration
Monday, October 7, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library - Poe Room
RM Johnson, author of the Essence bestseller, The Harris
Family, serves up a wild, fast-paced, sexy, and shocking
tale about a group of Chicago-based friends and lovers
in his fourth novel, Love Frustration (Simon & Schuster).
Jayson Abraham is about to give up on love and marriage
altogether until he meets Faith. When Jayson discovers,
shortly before their wedding day, that Faith has been
using him, he retreats into the arms of his longtime best
friend Asha Mills and plots revenge against Faith. RM
Johnson is the author of The Harris Men and Father Found.
He lives in Washington, DC.
E. Ethelbert Miller
Beyond the Frontier; African American Poetry for the
21st Century
Tuesday, October 8, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library - Poe Room
In assembling the poems for Beyond the Frontier (Black
Classic Press), poet E. Ethelbert Miller contacted hundreds
of writers and reviewed more than 1,000 poems. "I
wanted to produce a work that would chronicle the beginning
of a new century and a new age in black poetry, one that
included works by those who were prominent at the end
of the last century and those that will be prominent in
the new century," said Miller. The result is a massive
book with 175 contributors and more than 350 poems. Joining
E. Ethelbert Miller at this reading will be local poets
whose work is featured in the anthology: Brandon Johnson,
Carolyn Joyner, Laini Mataka, Reggie Timpson and Yao (Hoke
S. Glover III).
Enoch Pratt Free Library
400 Cathedral St.
Baltimore, MD 21201-4484
410-396-5430
Dr. Carla Hayden, Director
www.epfl.net
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